


To Those Who Wait

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: 100_tales, F/M, Future Fic, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 11:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2267886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, Dad, can I ask you something?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Those Who Wait

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "100_tales" prompt #070 "embarrassment"
> 
> (Part of my future!verse. For a chronological list, check out the [LJ master post](http://ami-ven.livejournal.com/212977.html))

Jack looked up from his comic book as the passenger-side door to his pick-up truck opened and his six-year-old daughter climbed in. Normally, he could hear A.J. coming a mile off, skipping down the sidewalk next to where the parents parked, in her red-and-gold light-up shoes, but today she was quiet. If she kept it up much longer, he’d have to start worrying.

A.J. put on her seatbelt, and Jack pulled out of the school parking lot. He glanced sideways at her, looking so much like her mother with that contemplative frown on her face.

“Hey, Dad,” she said, when they had only gone a few blocks. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, kiddo. Ask away.”

“Are you really old?”

Jack frowned. “You’re only as young as you feel, you know. So according to Mom, I’m not much older than you.”

A.J. smiled a little, but it faded quickly. “You’re older than anybody else’s dad. The other kids think it’s weird.”

“Do you think it’s weird?” Jack asked her, softly.

“No,” she said, slowly. “Well, maybe a little.”

Jack pulled into the little park where they always had their snacks, on the days they had to go back and pick up Jake after Science Club. It was still too cold to eat outside, so Jack pulled out two juice boxes and a bag of apple slices for them to share.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s talk about it.”

A.J. nibbled on an apple slice, thinking it over. “You’ve always been old, Dad,” she said, with childlike certainty. “But nobody else’s dad is nearly as old as you are.”

“And the other kids think that’s weird?” said Jack.

She nodded. 

“And this just came up today?”

She nodded again. “Joey Rubin’s grandpa came to bring him his lunch, after he’d forgotten it at home. So, in the afternoon, Miss Montoya asked us to talk about our grandparents, and I said all of mine died before I was born. But Brooke said I was lying, because my grandpa picked me up from school every day. But you’re not my grandpa, Dad, you’re my dad. And everybody said you must be really old.”

“Ah,” said Jack. “And everybody thinks that’s weird.”

It had been a very long time since he’d been in school, but he knew how important it could be for a kid to feel like they fit in, even at a school where most of the kids’ parents were military and/or working for the SGC.

“Yeah,” said A.J. She took another apple slice, not looking at him. “I didn’t know what to tell them.”

“Well, kiddo, I _am_ really old. Most moms and dads have their kids a lot younger than your mom and I had you.”

“How come?”

“Because we had a lot of things to do before we were ready for you and Jake,” said Jack. “Start up the SGC, save the world a few times, plus I was Mom’s boss for a pretty long time, and…” He paused, then continued, “Look, you know how Mom always says to be patient, and good things will come?”

“Yeah,” said A.J.

“Well, I was very, very patient, and because I waited so patiently, I got your mom, and Jake, and you.”

“Oh,” she said, thoughtfully. “Then we must be extra good, because you had to wait extra long for us to come, right?”

Jack smiled. “Exactly. Are you gonna be okay going back to school tomorrow, A.J.?”

His daughter arched an eyebrow at him. “Don’t be silly, Dad.”

“Would I do that?”

A.J. giggled, and Jack didn’t feel that old at all.

THE END


End file.
